In this talk, Kengchakaj will share his process and context behind ongoing, ever-evolving projects, including Lulled into a dreamy sleep from which there will be no waking up (ถูกกล่อมให้เพ้อละเมอหลับใหลไปเสียแล้วอย่างไม่มีวันตื่น). The work explores a transformative process of political awakening—in Thai, "ตาสว่าง" (eyes wide open). Taking its title from prose by radical Thai thinker Jit Phumisak (จิตร ภูมิศักดิ์), who was assassinated in 1966 by forces aligned with US-backed Thai elites, the project examines the state preceding awakening and the irreversible nature of consciousness once truth is revealed.
About the Speaker:
Kengchakaj is a Thai diaspora, Bangkok-born, Lenapehoking(Brooklyn)-based sound artist and improviser. His practice engages with organizing, improvising, and synthesizing sounds drawn from personal experience influenced by political complexities, ancestral soundscapes, and modes of collaboration and expression rooted in Southeast Asian tradition and lineage. His medium of expression spans acoustic piano, electronics, Southeast Asian tuned analog synthesizer, multichannel spatial audio, instrument making, and live coding–utilizing technologies to produce a multisensory live performance.
Kengchakaj is a Manhattan School of Music (MM) graduate, a Fulbright Scholarship recipient, and a Gold Award Lumen Prize winner. He is a 2025-2028 Jerome Hill Artist Fellow, 2024-2025 Lincoln Center Collider Fellow, 2025 Processing Foundation Fellow, 2024 Eyebeam Democracy Machine Fellow, and a Y10&11 NEW INC member. His projects have received development funding and support from Lincoln Center, NEW INC, Queens Council on the Arts, City Artist Corps, Rhizome, Processing Foundation, CultureHub, Babycastles, Eyebeam, and the Institute for Electronic Arts. He is one-half of elekhlekha อีเหละเขละขละ, a collaborative duo with interdisciplinary media artist, Nitcha Tothong.
LOCATION:Davison Room, Loeb Music Library STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20260224T201500Z DTEND:20260224T210000Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR